This invention relates generally to a container made of stiff foldable sheet material such as cardboard, and more particularly to such a container in the form of an open-topped carton of generally rectangular shape and including structural features comprising spaced internal ledges on opposed parallel end walls, the ledges serving as support members for items to be stored in the container.
The present container may be formed from a single sheet of cardboard, cut and scored by known processes to form front and rear side walls and left and right end walls and a sealing tab, together with tabs and flaps specially formed and cut to form structural beam members on opposed end walls and beam-reinforcing members on front and rear side walls. Each of the opposed end walls has formed therein an opening for receiving the four fingers of one of the user's hands for lifting the carton. These hand holes are formed by cutting tabs and folding the tabs inwardly through 90.degree. so that the tabs underlie the beam members, which themselves serve as the ledges above mentioned for supporting projecting end members of material to be stored such as binders for containing files of paper records.
It is accordingly the principal object of this invention to provide a novel carton formed of cardboard or similar material. Additional objects are to provide such a carton which may be readily assembled by hand; to provide such a carton having integrally formed flaps foldable to form reinforcing beams or internal support ledges for supporting material to be stored in the carton; to provide such a carton having additional internal reinforcing members for strengthening said beams; and for other objects as will be understood from a reading of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.